Conclusion
We did a critical review of the Thrasymachian concept of power. Thrasymachus thought of power as might, and that might is right. In the Republic Thrasymachus saw justice as the whim and caprice of the strongest.1 This related to the Darwinian conception of “the survival of the fittest.” Different people including politicians sought political power in society. They gathered fame, accumulated wealth, engaged in some corrupt practices. Power remained a transcendental concept in the society. Certain forms of power tended to contribute a defined value for a given society. Such powers included: Technological power, economic power, political power and divine power.
We saw that the predominant and inherent characteristic nature of man was a marginalized tendency within philosophical cosmology of power. The concept of power over the age bore a rigorous tendency. It pursued negative values such as treason, murder and all forms of ideological misconceptions that led to instability and disorder. Power was defined as the ability to do something. For Thrasymachus power was might is right. This seemed to be prevalent considering the political situation of the Athenians within the Thrasymacus’ era. The literal interpretation and moral connotation in contradistinction to the western conception of power led to the formulation of this long essay that shifted the social and moral implications of power towards a more humanistic, developmental and dialogic conception for a better society.
This work addressed the relevance of the Thrasymachian concept of power. It critically evaluated the value of power in the society. It exposed through philosophical lens of the meaning of power. It espoused the moral value of power in the state. It showed the link between power and justice. Distinctively, the work showed how power can be used for positive ends in the society by appealing to the correlates of Ubuntu such as dialogue, justice, compassion, tolerance and human dignity. This long essay projected a social political philosophy as the basic mechanism to social development in education and foundation to leadership qualities. We saw that at the theoretical level, this work contributed to clarifying the practice and concept of power as a primal concept that affected the lives of human beings deeply. It reviewed Thrasymachus’ idea of power and then offered a systematic approach that unveiled the misconception of power in the society. Hence we proposed alternative and positive core values such as tolerance, dialogue, fairness and negotiation as ways out of the power crisis.
